He won the Kanakapura (Bangalore Rural District) Lok Sabha seat in 1996. He sought re-election from Kanakapura in 1998 and lost. He again contested unsuccessfully from Sathanur assembly seat in 1999. In 2004, he was elected to represent the Ramanagaram assembly constituency.

Mr. H.D. Kumaraswamy, is a well known producer of Kannada films produced hit films with top stars like Ghalate Aliyandru, Suryavamsha, Premotsava and the recent Chandra Chakori (which ran for 500 days). He even owns a cinema theatre at his home town Holenarasipura.